Thy Kingdom Come
Part 2
5th February 2009
As we remembered last week, the Lord's Prayer starts with these words:
Matthew 6v9-10
"Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
We saw last week that the "Kingdom of God" is past, present and future; it has come, it is coming, and it will come in the future. We saw that it comes to us as individuals when we receive Jesus Christ as our saviour.
We saw that the Kingdom of God is constantly growing, both in an individual Christian and in the world.
And we started to look at what the Kingdom of God is like. It's a kingdom of righteous, peace, joy and power.
On this website I've tried to focus on the Good News of the Kingdom of God - on God's love, mercy, goodness, and power, and on His plans for us. But sometimes we have to consider some of the less pleasant truths about the universe. This week, we need to look at the need for repentance. The Bible says:
1 Corinthians 6v9-10
Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
It shouldn't come as a surprise to us, and it shouldn't been seen as scandalous to us, that we cannot enter the Kingdom of God without respect for the Law of the King. God rules his Kingdom, and to enter it we have to acknowledge His rule - and His laws.
It's not that the Church is just being judgemental (although it is sometimes guilty of that). It's not that these are arbitrary, outdated ideas. The truth is that God has a Law, and that, as Jesus taught us:
Matthew 5bv18-19
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a
pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called
least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these commands will be called great in
the kingdom of heaven.
The Church does us a huge disservice when it tells us that our sin is not sin at all! We need to know the truth, acknowledge the truth, and live according to the truth. If God hates something that I do, I want to know about it, so I can get right with God. That makes much more sense that brushing it under the carpet so that I can fool myself in the short term.
Paul explains about the difference between what is sin and what is righteousness:
Galatians 5v19-24
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions
and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like
this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.
To belong to Jesus Christ - to enter the kingdom of God - is to "crucify the sinful nature with its passions and desires". There is no other way.
The Good News is that we can enter the Kingdom of God. But we must enter the same way as the first Christians did - through repentance and faith. If we do not crucify our own nature, we cannot be born again.
We need a new set of attitudes:
Matthew 5v3-10
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.